Written by

Doyle Rice
USA TODAY

After a series of sweltering summers, the USA caught a small break this year with its "coolest" summer since 2009, the National Climatic Data Center reported Thursday.

However, the nation as a whole was still 1 degree Fahrenheit warmer than the long-term average and experienced its 15th-warmest summer on record. Eight states in the West and four states in the Northeast had one of their 10 hottest summers on record, the climate center noted.

Alaska had its second-hottest summer in the state's 96-year record. The only other summer that was warmer was in 2004. ...